Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a likely Republican
challenger 48 - 39 percent in the 2010 Senate race, but he is inching up in his job approval to a
negative 42 - 52 percent approval rating, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

The matchup compares to a 45 - 39 percent Simmons lead in a May 27 poll by the
independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.

In this latest survey, Simmons leads 87 - 7 percent among Republicans and 56 - 27 percent
among independent voters, while Sen. Dodd takes Democrats 74 - 16 percent. The incumbent has
gained among Democrats, but lost independent support since May 27.

Dodd's negative 42 - 52 percent approval compares to 38 - 53 percent May 27 and this
was up from a negative 33 - 58 percent April 2.

Simmons dominates a Republican primary matchup with 42 percent, while no other
Republican tops 5 percent, with 45 percent undecided.

"Sen. Christopher Dodd is rebuilding his approval rating, but he is still in negative
territory. He has moved the needle from 25 points down April 2 to 10 points down today. He
still is losing to Rob Simmons," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD.

"Sen. Dodd's numbers among Democrats are back to where they used to be with over 70
percent of Democrats approving of his job performance and backing his reelection bid. Perhaps
Dodd's visibility in helping with President Barack Obama's agenda has brought some wavering
Democrats home. But he still is struggling with Independents, who will be harder to win back
than his own partisans."

Looking at Dodd's characteristics, Connecticut voters say:

55 - 35 percent that he is not honest and trustworthy;

62 - 32 percent that he has strong leadership qualities;

49 - 45 percent that he does not share their views on issues important to them.

"Dodd's most glaring weakness continues to be that a majority of voters say he is not
honest and trustworthy. This is not something that will be easy for Dodd to reverse. Another
problem for Dodd is that the bad economy has put voters in a grumpy mood. Consequently,
voters have little patience for politician's missteps," Schwartz said.

Voters approve 57 - 38 percent of the way Obama is handling the economy and 54
percent say his policies will help the economy in the future.

Obama's financial policies will help them personally, 35 percent of voters say, while 30
percent say his policies will hurt them and 31 percent say they won't make a difference.

Fully 56 percent of Connecticut voters say they are worse off financially than they were a
year ago and only 27 percent expect things to get better in the next 12 months, with 16 percent
who expect things to get worse and 54 percent who expect no change.

The current economic situation is causing stress in their life, 57 percent say and 33 percent
of that group say it's causing serious stress.

"Can President Obama help Dodd? The President is popular in Connecticut, but his
numbers are down here, as we have seen in recent Quinnipiac University polls in Pennsylvania,
New Jersey and Ohio. Moreover, 71 percent say that the President actively campaigning for
Dodd won't make a difference in their vote," Schwartz said.

From July 16 - 20, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,499 Connecticut registered voters
with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points. The survey includes 612 Democrats with a
margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points and 384 Republicans with a margin of error of +/- 5
percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research.
For more data and RSS feed - http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, or call (203) 582-5201.

1. (If registered Democrat) If the 2010 Democratic primary for United States
Senator were being held today and the candidates were Chris Dodd and Merrick
Alpert, for whom would you vote?

2. (If registered Republican) If the 2010 Republican primary for United States
Senator were being held today and the candidates were Rob Simmons, Tom Foley,
Peter Schiff, and Sam Caligiuri, for whom would you vote?

TREND: (If registered Republican) If the 2010 Republican primary for United
States Senator were being held today and the candidates were Rob Simmons, Tom
Foley, Sam Caligiuri, and Peter Schiff for whom would you vote?

62. (If employed Full or Part time q61) During the past 12 months, would you say
you have felt more secure and confident that you can continue in your job as
long as you want, or less secure and confident, or has there been no change?